3D photos now pop out of Facebook feeds

A few days ago, Facebook began rolling out a slick new feature for mobile users: 3D photos. With technology that captures the distance between the subject in the foreground and the background, 3D photos add depth and movement to your images. They can be viewed in the News Feed and VR.

We presented the 3D photos feature and now we're handing the creativity off to you! We can't wait to see what you come up with. If you need a little help getting started, check out our video on how to post a 3D photo. What are you excited to bring to life using this immersive format?

3D photos: How they work

You just need to take a photo in portrait mode on a compatible dual-lens smartphone, then tap the “Share as 3D photo” button on Facebook. You’ll be able to scroll, pan and tilt to see the image in 3D – no glasses required.

You can also view 3D photos in VR using the Oculus Browser on Oculus Go or Firefox on Oculus Rift.

3D photos: Best practices

On its blog, Facebook has offered some tips and tricks for how users can capture and share 3D photos:

1. Create layers

3D Photos use the depth maps that are stored with portrait photos taken on the iPhone 7+, 8+, X or XS. You’ll get the best results if your main subject is three or four feet away, and to really make it pop, try to capture scenes with multiple layers of depth, including something in the foreground and something in the background — such as a shot of your family standing in a field of flowers.

2. Keep contrast in mind

You’ll get more of the 3D effect when your photo’s subject has contrasting colours — for example, someone wearing a blue shirt standing in front of a blue wall won’t pop as much as someone wearing a different color.

3. Use texture

Some materials and subjects make better 3D shots than others. You’ll get the best results from subjects that have some texture to them, have solid edges and aren’t too shiny. Try to avoid transparent objects like clear plastic or glass, as they aren’t always accurately captured by depth sensors.